JOIN USThe ‘Toto Festival’, which was held at the Alliance Francaise to mark the tenth year of the ‘Toto Awards’, saw some unique bands like ‘Until We Last’, ‘Sulk Station’ and ‘Sanddunes’ enthralling the audience with their performances.
‘Until We Last’, a post-rock band, opened the performances with some of its popular pieces like ‘To Space and Back’, ‘Creation’, ‘Spectators in the Sky’, ‘Earth Gazing’ etc. The lengthy, yet interesting guitar pieces, combined with visuals and a bit of a trance music, set the mood of the evening. The packed hall wanted to hear more of the band and their performance became better as the show progressed.
Bharghav, one of the members of the band, informed that though their songs have no name, they are essentially a post-rock band. “We play the guitar and each person has a very important role to play in the music that we produce,” he said.
The next set that performed was the ‘Sulk Station’. The musical duo played a mix of some of their old songs like ‘Bindya’, ‘Wait’ etc and a couple of their new songs. Experimental dance troupe ‘Storm Festival’ danced to the music of ‘Sulk Station’ and enthralled the audience with their moves. This added variety to the show and the audience were seen enjoying it
Rohan, who was there with his friends, said, “I loved ‘Until We Last’, there were so many layers in their performance.The guitar pieces were amazing and extremely innovative. Others like ‘Sulk Station’ were also very nice. I specifically liked the singer’s voice.” Others like Poornima said that they had a great time and the music just added to the fun. “There was a great variety today, the bands performed different genres of music and it’s a great experience for a music lover to have such a wide variety in one venue,” she quipped.
The ‘Toto Festival’ had presentations, panel discussions, readings, screenings, as well as a literary quiz. The ‘Festival’ also featured sessions on photography, creative writing and a short film, along with a contemporary music concert.
The music award was bagged by a Kolkata-based band called ‘The Monkey in Me’. The sessions during the day covered the recent work by past recipients of the ‘Toto Awards’ and other young writers, photographers and film-makers.